There are many commodities which are shipped in cardboard or corrugated paper boxes having considerable strength and which are designed to hold contents of appreciable weight. Frequently it is necessary or desirable to carry the shipping box from place to place with all or part of the contents therein rather than to transfer the contents to some sort of carrying tray or cart. Carrying such boxes is frequently difficult whether the box is closed or opened. It becomes somewhat more awkward to carry when the top of the box and some of the contents have been removed, since the box then tends to lose much of the stiffness provided by the top and the full load of contents. It would therefore be desirable to have carrying handles built into such boxes.
One type of handle which has been used consists simply of a partial cut-out on each end of the box with a flap folded upwardly on the inside of the box to provide a hand-hold. This may be satisfactory where the contents are not too heavy and do not occupy such space as is required for the fingers to be inserted. Where metal or plastic wrapping straps are used to secure the box for shipping, such straps sometimes incorporate handles or have handles associated with the straps. Such handles remain useful only so long as the straps are not cut. Other types of conventional handles are occasionally employed where costs will permit, but such handles are not normally readily transferable to another box or carton. There is, therefore, a need for a simple and inexpensive carrying handle which can be either incorporated into a shipping box so that it can be used both in handling unopened boxes and opened, partially-filled boxes, or which can be easily attached to opened boxes to make carrying such boxes much easier .